Die Macht » felt like we had to come out and do something about

OMAHA, Neb. -- Contrasting styles of play will be on display Tuesday when ninth-ranked Wisconsin visits No. 22 Creighton in one of the Gavitt Tipoff Games.While the Badgers favor a disciplined, halfcourt type of game, the Bluejays like to get out and run, forcing teams to try to keep up with them in transition.Wisconsins philosophy has worked well, even last season when Greg Gard stepped in as head coach at midseason and led the Badgers to their fifth trip to the Sweet 16 in the past six years.The Badgers return all five starters from that team, including preseason Big Ten player of the year Nigel Hayes. Wisconsin (1-0) blew out Central Arkansas 79-47 in its opener.The Tipoff Games are an annual series between Big Ten and Big East conference teams and are named in honor Dave Gavitt, the founder of the Big East. This is the second year of an eight-year run for the event that is played during the first full week of the regular season.That level of success Wisconsin has enjoyed this decade is a standard the Bluejays are trying to reach. Creighton has missed the NCAA tournament the past two seasons and has not made it past the second round since 1974 when the Bluejays lost to Kansas in a regional semifinal.Junior guard Maurice Watson said this is the kind of game Creighton has been preparing for, to show this is the season the Bluejays can get past the round of 32.Basically Its just us testing our will and proving that were an elite team, Watson said. That we can hang with the teams that are in the top 10, top 15 in the country. Its about us going out there to prove to ourselves and our fans that we can hang at this level.Freshman center Justin Patton also is confident Creighton will be able to play a faster pace than Wisconsin prefers and get one of those coveted wins against a top 10 team.I just hope that as a team we can keep our composure and execute down the stretch, Patton said. If we just stay to our game plan, it will work out. Probably not early in the game, but late in the second half, things are going to start going our way. Were going to wear them down.Patton and Watson agree with Bluejays coach Greg McDermott that CenturyLink Center, the building that Creighton has turned into a formidable home court, will be the place to be in Omaha Tuesday night.McDermott can see the pros and cons of playing a game of this magnitude so early in the season.I think part of me would like a little more time to get ready for a test like this, McDermott said. On the other side of the coin, when you play good teams, and especially experienced teams, your weaknesses are exposed, so you have a chance to fix them early in the season.To play a team the quality of Wisconsin, with their experience and their veteran leadership, its great for our program and great for our fan base. This place will be rockin tomorrow.Watson is hopeful that the noise levels will rise because things are going Creightons way.They run their offense all the way through, Watson said. Everything moves at pace, theyre calculated. They kind of run through their bigs. They dont want to run like us.All we can do is play our game, and playing our game is going to make a lot of teams uncomfortable.Creighton (1-0) got past UMKC 89-82 in its opener. Wholesale Sneakers . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. Adidas Sneakers Cheap . The scientists believe the small earthquake during a Marshawn Lynch touchdown was likely greater than Lynchs famous "beast quake" touchdown run three years ago, which also came against New Orleans during a playoff game. http://www.cheapsneakers.us/ . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. Sneakers Outlet .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. Cheap Sneakers China . -- Anaheim Ducks captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf has been scratched from Sunday nights game against the Vancouver Canucks because of an upper-body injury. SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Green Bay got physical with top-ranked Notre Dame and gave the Fighting Irish about all they could take.The Phoenix (2-1) rallied from 17 points down midway through the third quarter and narrowed the lead to five points three times in the final 4 minutes before finally falling 71-67 in a Preseason WNIT semifinal Thursday night.The Irish (3-0) shot just 33 percent in the second half and 36 percent for the game. Arike Ogunbowale led the Irish with 18 points but didnt hit another basket after making a 15-foot jumper to extend Notre Dames lead to 17 points.Jessica Lindstrom led the Phoenix with 20 points and 16 rebounds, hitting a 3-pointer to cut Notre Dames lead to 69-64 with 19 seconds left. But Marina Mabrey, who finished with 13 points, hit two free throws to give the Irish a seven-point lead with 16 seconds left.Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw was disappointed with the Irish, saying they were ragged on offense and struggled defensively against Green Bays screens.Theyre so experienced. Theyre poised. Theyre well coached. Theyre disciplined. Offensively they were really hard to guard and defensively they made it really difficult to get the ball in the post, she said.The Irish, who normally dominate inside, had only a 28-24 advantage inside against the Phoenix and Green Bays reserves outscored Notre Dames bench 22-8.The Phoenix shot 64 percent in the second half and 45 percent for the game.We changed a little bit of the schematic and tried to put it so we could drive it and spread them out a little more, which helped us, Green Bay coach Kevin Borseth said. But we hit some shots, some big shots.Players on both sides described the game as physical.But I feel like thats just part of the game nowadays, Lindstrom said.McGraw believes having such a tough challenge will help the Irish.Hopeffully we learned a lot from it.dddddddddddd I thought we made some big plays in the end when we had to. But overall, just really disappointing, she said. We looked like the younger team on the floor, and I think we were. But I think we can play a lot smarter.BIG PICTUREGreen Bay: The Phoenix, the favorites to win the Horizon League, played their first game ever against a No. 1 ranked team and stayed within reach throughout the game as they gave the Irish all they could handle.Notre Dame: The Irish struggled offensively early against the Phoenix, who ranked ninth nationally in scoring defense last season at 52.2 points a game, but managed to pull out the victory despite being held to 36 percent shooting.POLL IMPLICATIONS:Green Bay: The Phoenix were already receiving votes and likely could well move into the rankings with an impressive showing on the road.Notre Dame: The Irish may be hard-pressed to keep the No. 1 ranking after struggling on its home court against an unranked opponent.TIP-INS: The Irish were 0 of 5 from 3-point range in the second half after going 5 of 8 in the first half. ... Green Bay was 6 of 9 from 3-point range in the third quarter. ... The Irish have players from 10 states on their roster. Every player on Green Bay is from Wisconsin. ... The Phoenix dropped to 1-2 all-time against the Irish, with the win coming in 1987.UP NEXTGreen Bay: The Phoenix are knocked out of the Preseason WNIT. Green Bay plays road games against Belmont, Chattanooga and Bradley before returning home to face Drake on Dec. 3.Notre Dame: The Irish will play No. 17 Washington in the Preseason WNIT final at South Bend on Sunday. The Irish then play at Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday. ' ' '